Tigers win big over Bogan in home opener

Published
5:00 am CDT, Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Edwardsville Tiger running back Cameron James (4) looks to turn the corner and head up field Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex while Chicago Bogan defender Denzel Nelson (3) attempts to make a stop. EHS cruised to a 51-6 victory over the Bengals. less

Edwardsville Tiger running back Cameron James (4) looks to turn the corner and head up field Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex while Chicago Bogan defender Denzel Nelson (3) attempts to make a stop. EHS ... more

Edwardsville Tiger running back Cameron James (4) looks to turn the corner and head up field Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex while Chicago Bogan defender Denzel Nelson (3) attempts to make a stop. EHS cruised to a 51-6 victory over the Bengals. less

Edwardsville Tiger running back Cameron James (4) looks to turn the corner and head up field Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex while Chicago Bogan defender Denzel Nelson (3) attempts to make a stop. EHS ... more

Mother Nature couldn't slow the Edwardsville Tiger football team Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex.

After two plays in Saturday's contest with the Chicago Bogan Bengals, a lightning delay sent both teams into the locker rooms until 8:40 p.m.

When they emerged it was EHS tailbacks Cameron James and Sam Mulford providing the thunder and lightning, as the Tigers cruised to a 51-6 victory to even their season mark at 1-1. Bogan dropped to 0-2 with the loss.

Mulford led Edwardsville in rushing with seven carries for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns. James added three TDs, rushing for two with 91 yards on seven carries and sprinting 94 yards for a kickoff return TD to open the second half.

EHS head coach Matt Martin was just happy to climb into the win column and get experience for so many of his young gridders.

"I just think we'll look at film and see what we did well and what we didn't and we'll try to learn from it, but anytime you get a win and you get a chance for your whole team to play like we did (Saturday) it's fun," he said. "I don't know if I know another sport where you put in so much time for so little playing time and that's tough."

James credited the Edwardsville offensive line for doing its job so the running game could succeed.

"The O-lineman had a good week of practice and I appreciate my O-line so much. They did good (Saturday)," James said. "They kept their feet moving and I think we won the battle up front, so I congratulate the O-line."

Altogether, the Tigers compiled 298 yards of offense in the game - 226 of that coming on the ground - while the Bengals put together 246 yards. Bogan committed 10 penalties in the game though, pushing the chains back 60 yards.

It was talented quarterback Terrence Wafford who did much of the damage for the Bengals. Wafford was 26 of 55 for 205 yards, one TD and three interceptions. He also led Bogan in its anemic rushing game against EHS with eight carries for 16 yards.

"He'll be as good as anybody we see I imagine," said Martin. "We've seen two good quarterbacks and we're going to see another one next week (East St. Louis' Lamontiez Ivy). (Wafford's) got good enough feet and a good enough pocket presence and he's elusive when you get pressure on him and obviously he throws strikes out there too."

Bogan head coach Sam Jones understands the talent of his signal caller, but he also knows he can't do it all for the Bengals.

"We have a young line," said Jones. "All of our line is made up of juniors and sophomores. We only have one senior on the line, so he doesn't have a lot of protection. He throws the ball pretty good and he was trying to run a little bit, which I'm asking him to do more."

The Tigers jumped on the scoreboard first at 7:39 in the opening quarter when the defense scored a safety to put them up 2-0.

Offensively, EHS had gotten the ball on its first possession and received two solid run plays from James (26 yards) and Mulford (32 yards), but then the orange and black suffered some bad luck.

Quarterback Will Collins attempted a pass that was slightly tipped and then intercepted by Bogan's Miguel Moldonado at the Tiger three-yard-line.

But the EHS defense quickly swarmed Bengal running back Denzel Nelson for two negative rushing attempts, the second scoring the safety.

It seemed to bring the Tigers alive, as Mulford closed out the next possession with a one-yard dart into the end zone at 4:53. Brandon Baker added the extra point for a 9-0 lead.

Mulford then added another first quarter score, rumbling 21 yards to put EHS in front 16-0 after Baker's kick with 3:32 remaining.

James joined the fun at 6:56 of the second quarter when he slipped in for a one-yard score. Baker's kick made it 23-0.

Defensive tackle Vincent Valentine then picked off Wafford to give James his next opportunity. Valentine had a little room to run, but dropped the ball, which a Tiger teammate quickly recovered.

"It would have been fun (to see him run a little bit)," said Martin with a smile. "But we've got a little drill for people that fumble that he'll get an opportunity to experience."

James swiftly erased the memory of Valentine's grab and drop though when on the next play he changed direction and sprinted 37 yards down the sideline into the end zone. Baker's extra point expanded the lead to 30-0.

"I was shocked," Jones said with a chuckle. "I didn't know (James) could run that fast. I thought he was gone last year. When he gets around the corner it's over with. He can really sprint."

Collins got in the mix next, connecting with sophomore wide receiver Darius Crochrell on a 29-yard TD with 4:27 left in the half. The extra point pushed it to 37-0.

A late interception by Tiger Michael Hoults allowed the Collins/Crochrell connection to match up again on a 14-yard strike with 5.4 second to go. Edwardsville entered the half with a comfortable 44-0 advantage but weren't done.

James put the cherry on top on the first play of the second half, turning on the boosters for a 94-yard kickoff return into the end zone. Baker's kick gave EHS an insurmountable 51-0 edge.

"Coach said 0-0 (coming out of the locker room)," said James. "So it's a new game. I went out there and he said he wanted a return so I returned it for him. I just came out like it was the first half."

With a running clock in the second half, Bogan controlled possession much of the time. The Bengals finally found the end zone with 10.4 seconds left in the game when Wafford found Isaih Robinson with a stellar throw and catch.

"It was just good for us to see somebody get a touchdown," Jones said. "That's basically all we wanted to do was score."

After a failed two-point conversion, Bogan recovered an onside kick to try for another score. But EHS sophomore Brian Crowe picked off Wafford once more and rumbled 45 yards to run out the clock much to the glee of the crowd, which stuck around for the near 11 p.m. finish.

James said the win was a definite confidence boost after a 45-14 loss to Lincoln-Way East in Week 1, but now it's time to concentrate on the Week 3 matchup. Perennial powerhouse East St. Louis will visit the District 7 Sports Complex at 7 p.m. Friday.

"I'm going to soak it in, but we've got to get better," James said. "We're going to enjoy this win, but then we're going to come back and work. We've got East St. Louis so we're going to have a good week of practice and we're going to give it our best like we always do."